This blog is meant to display my coins/currency notes/stamps, in an informative manner, which would be useful to users in knowing about the history of the period when these coins/banknotes/stamps were minted/printed and events/persons they honour/depict, both on Indian and foreign coins/banknotes/stamps. The content would be more in the nature of a walk down memory lane through my collection/articles.

A Miniature sheet of stamps issued on the five eminent writers - Kishan Chander, Bhisham Sahni, Pandit Shrilal Shukla, K.V. Puttappa, Kuppali
Venkatappa and Balwant Gargi. Each stamp is of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each

A First Day Cover (FDC) issued on the five eminent writers showing their portraits in a "Scroll of Honour"

The FDC is titled "Suprasidh Lekhak" (in Hindi) and Eminent Writers" (in English). On the right are the five stamps of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each depicting the five eminent writers. The Cancellation hand-stamps are titled "Suprasidh Lekhak" (in Hindi) and Eminent Writers" (in English) and show an open book in the centre with a quill and inkpot. The Cancellation is of New delhi and is dated 31.05.2017.

In the top centre is the logo of the Swacchh Bharat Mission" with its motto "Ek Kadam Swacchta Ki Ore" (meaning "A step towards Cleanliness")

A First Day Cover (FDC) issued on the five eminent writers showing their portraits in a "Scroll of Honour", with a Miniature sheet of Cancelled Stamps

The Information Brochure issued on the occasion of release of the Stamps

Eminent
writers:

Literature is one of the
major contributory factors in promoting cultural exchanges and nation building.
It acts as a cultural binding force and works as an evocative medium to boost
up the moral of the people in times of crisis.

About the individual writers
covered in this set of stamps:

A Se-tenant (four stamps) of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each brought out on Kishan Chander

Kishan
Chander (1914-08.03.1977): He is considered to be
one of the greatest pillars of the Progressive writer’s association and one of
the leading short story writers of the Indian subcontinent in the second half
of the 20th Century.

He was born in 1914 in
Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. He belonged to a family which originally hailed
from Wazirganj, in present day Pakistani Punjab. His father was a doctor, who
later shifted to the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir as a physician of the
Maharaja of Poonch.

His work, “Mitti Ke Sanam” recounts his childhood
memories of Kashmir. Kishan Chander not only produced an amazing oeuvre
(elegant work/masterpieces) of about 30 collections of short stories and 20
novels, but was also a brilliant essayist and involved in the Indian film
industry.

He was one of the few
writers who realised the progressive ideals in literature. He believed in the
ascendancy of a socialist society and throughout his life dedicated his efforts
to help the marginalised, peasants and workers, as well as, several writers and
artists.

His creative life can be
understood as having passed through three phases – in 1939, he was in the grip
of romantic ideas, from 1940 onwards, he made it a priority to encapsulate the
realities of life in his work and from 1945, he was influenced by the great
wars of national liberation against colonialism in India and across the world.

He was awarded the Padma
Bhushan in 1969 as the most eminent Urdu writer. He was also honoured with
“Soviet land Nehru award” by the then Soviet Government for his contribution to
literature.

A Se-tenant (four stamps) of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each brought out on Bhisham Sahni

Bhisham
Sahni (08.08.1915-11.07.2003): He was one of the most
prolific writers of Hindi Literature. He was born on 08.08.1915 in Rawalpindi,
in present day Pakistan. His immense popularity was a reward for his literary
merits – his sharp wit, his gentle irony, his all-pervasive humour, his
penetrating insight into character, his mastery as raconteur and his profound
grasp of the yearnings of the human heart. With his high-spirits and passion
for life of the common people, he travelled through villages and towns of Punjab
with the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) Theatre Group in 1948.

Thereafter, he began to
teach to earn a living and then lived in the USSR for seven years as a Hindi
translator. His vast experience from his travels to various places and through
various cultures filtered down to his stories and novels. The “simplicity” of
his work came from his vast interactions.

He is known as a
progressive writer, influenced by Marxism and yet not too engrossed with
political themes. He explored the human condition with kindness and
understanding.

His last published book
was an autobiography with the title “Aaj
Ke Ateet” (meaning “The Pasts of the Present”). He was associated with
several literary and cultural organisations. He was General Secretary of the
All India Progressive Writer’s Association (1975-85) and acting General Secretary
of the Afro-Asian Writer’s Association and was also associated with the editing
of their journal “Lotus”.

He was awarded the Padma
Bhushan for Literature in 1998 for his contribution to Literature.

He passed away on
11.07.2003.

A Se-tenant (four stamps) of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each brought out on Pandit Shrilal Shukla

Pandit
Shrilal Shukla (31.12.1925- 28.10.2011):

He was born at Atrauli, in
the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. He was a famous Hindi writer, notable for
his satire.

He penned over 25 books,
including “Raag Darbari”, “Makaan”, “Sooni Ghati Ka Sooraj”, “Pehla
Padaav” and “Bisrampur Ka Sant””.
He worked as a Provincial Civil Services (PCS) Officer for the State of Uttar
Pradesh and was later inducted into the Indian Administrative Services (IAS).

He highlighted the falling
moral values in Indian society in the post-independence era through his novels.
His writings expose the negative aspects of life in rural and urban India in a
satirical manner. His best known work “Raag
Darbari” has been translated into English and 15 Indian languages. It is
one of those books whose popularity and literary status has remained unabated
and has scaled upwards with the passage of time. A television serial based on
this work was aired for several months on the National Network for several
months in the 1980s.

It is a little known fact
that he also wrote a detective novel titled “Aadmi Ka Zahar” (“The Poison of Man”) which was serialised in the
weekly magazine “Hindustan”.

He received the Jnanpith
Award (the highest Indian literary award presented to contributors to
Literature in India) in 2011.

His first major award was
the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel “Raag
Darbari” in 1969.

He received the Vyas
Samman Award in 1999 for his novel “Bisrampur Ka Sant”.

In 2008, he was awarded
the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian Literature and culture.

He passed away on
28.10.2011.

A Se-tenant (four stamps) of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each brought out on K.V.Puttappa

Kuppali
Venkatappa Puttappa (29.12.1904-11.11.1994):

He was popular by his penname
“Kuvempu” or “K.V. Puttappa”.

Born in Chikmangalur
district in the Indian state of Karnataka, he was a Kannada novelist, poet,
playwright, critic and thinker who penned the State Anthem “Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate”.

He is widely regarded as
the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th Century. Kuvempu began his
literary work in English and later shifted to Kannada language. His major work
in English is a collection of poems called “The Beginner’s Muse”.

He was the forbearer of
the idea that education should be provided in the children’s mother tongues and
in this pursuit he opened the Institute of Kannada studies in Mysore
University.

Kevempu actively advocated
against the caste system and many of his writings reflected his views. He is
considered to be one of the major contributors to the Modernist Literary
Movement in Kannada literature.

His writings and his
contribution to “Universal Humanism” gives him a unique place in modern Indian
literature.

His major achievement was
his extremely different take on the characters of the “Ramayan” (an ancient
Indian mythological text) written by the ancient Indian sage Valmiki, which
fetched him the honour of being the first Kannada writer to be decorated with
the prestigious Jnanpith Award.

His epic narrative “Sri Ramayana Darshanam” is regarded as
the revival of the era of “Mahakavya”
(meaning the “Great Epic poetry”) in contemporary form and charm.

He was also conferred upon
with the Padma Bhushan, Sahitya Akademi Award, Padma Vibhushan and the
Karnataka Ratna Awards.

A se-tenant (four stamps) of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each brought out on Prof. Balwant Gargi

Prof.
Balwant Gargi (04.12.1918-22.04.2003):

He was a playwright,
director, theatre personality, novelist, teacher and chronicler of folk theatre
and one of the pioneers of play-writing in Punjabi language.

Born at Bhatinda, in the
Indian state of Punjab, he was the founder Professor Director of the Department
of Indian Theatre which was founded in 1972 by the Punjab University,
Chandigarh. The establishment of the Department was the culmination of the
years of creativity that began from Gargi’s years of study at Government
College, Lahore (presently in Pakistan). He completed his M.A. (English) and
M.A. (Political Science) from FC College, Lahore. He also studied theatre with
pioneering theatre personality Norah Richards at her school in the Kangra
Valley, in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh, which gave him an insight into
the realistic theatre of Henrik Ibsen and the Irish playwright Synge among
others.

He composed and performed
over a dozen full length plays and five collections of one-act dramas. He
taught for two years (1966-67_ at the University of Washington, which inspired
him to write his autobiography “The Naked triangle” which brought him wide
acclaim.

He was among the pioneers
of playwriting in Punjabi and the production and telecast of his plays like “Sanjha Chulha” (“joint kitchen”) on “Doordarshan” Television received
countrywide appreciation.

A Full Sheet of stamps 9 x 5 = 45 of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each issued on Kishan Chander

A Full Sheet of stamps 9 x 5 = 45 of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each issued on Bhisham Sahni

A Full Sheet of stamps 9 x 5 = 45 of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each issued on Pandit Shrilal Shukla

A Full Sheet of stamps 9 x 5 = 45 of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each issued on K.V.Puttappa

A Full Sheet of stamps 9 x 5 = 45 of 1000 Paise or Rs.10/- each issued on Prof. Balwant Gargi

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .